Moganshan

We have seen so much since leaving Shanghai. When we had our fill of large city, we headed out to Moganshan, a small mountain village retreat, originally established as a European hill station. It was quite a journey getting there (as are all travel days in China) but well worth the effort (which included a cab, a train ride, haggling in Chinese for a second cab (Coalter) to take us the rest of the way when no nobody seemed to know where it was, an irate taxi driver who had no idea he had to drive us all the way to the top of the mountain, vomiting child in the back seat). We finally arrived to find the whole village was shut down for the winter. We were almost the only people in the whole town, the only guests in our large hotel. Very eery. While we had peace, solitude, stunning views of mountains and bamboo forests, we had no heat (sleeping in down sleeping bags in the hotel, eating in front of a space heater with long underwear, hats, gloves, down jackets), one dining option, no way to get cash (which was running out and the bank closed for the winter). But we had beautiful hikes through bamboo forests, sunshine and fresh air ( a real commodity in China if you have been reading the news about the pollution – which is staggering). All in all, a funny adventure that we are sure to remember forever.